Guard-rail clamp.



G. L. HALL. GUARD RAIL CLAMP. APPLICATION FILED MAR 24, 1910.

993,596. Patented May 30, 1911.

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AQATTORIVEY'S GEORGE L. HALL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

GUARD-RAIL CLAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 30, 1911.

Application filed March 24, 1910. Serial No. 551,308.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnoncn L. I'IALL, a citizen of the United States,and resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Guard- RailClamps, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadtherein to the. accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sideelevation of the clamp,

, the guard rail and track rail being shown in transverse verticalsectional view; Fig. 2 a plan View of the clamp applied to the rails;Fig. 3 an end elevation; Flg. 4 a transverse vertical sectional view ofthe clamp yoke, showing one of the spacing blocksin position on saidyoke; Fig. 5 a detail plan view of the wedge blocks detached from theyoke and slightly separated; Fig. 6 a detail plan view of the fillerblock; Fig. 7 a side elevation of a slightly different form of clampyoke; and Fig. 8 a transverse sectional View thereof.

The main object of this invention is to provide an efficient guard railclamp in which the clampingyoke will be very light, but exceedinglystrong, and which may be readily adjusted to the rails.

A further object of the invention is to provide a yoke having sideflanges between which the various parts of the clamp will fit, saidflanges serving as a retaining means to'hold the various parts inposition against lateral displacement.

A further object of the invention is to form the yoke of I-beam shape incross section, thereby forming an extremely stiff and durable yokecapable of withstanding the severe strains to which devices of this kindare subjected when in use.

Another object of the invention is to form the yoke of a standard rolledI-beam section, said section being suitably bent to form the yoke.

Referring to the various parts by numerals 1 designates the clamp yokewhich in cross section corresponds to the section of a standard I-beam.I form this yoke by bending a proper length of standard I-beam in anysuitable manner. It will thus be seen that I form a yoke having acentral web 2 and oppositely disposed side flanges 3 at each edge of theweb. The guard rail t and the track rail 5 rest on the upper edges ofthe flanges 3 of the main portion 1 of the yoke, as shown clearly inFig. 1. A

filler block 6 is interposed between the track rail and the adjoiningupwardly and inwardly extending end 7 of the yoke. The filler block 6 isreduced at its outer end to fit within the channel formed by the sideflanges 3 of the yoke. By this means the said filler block is held inits proper relation to the yoke, and cannot become accidentallydisengaged therefrom.

Bet-ween the track rail and the guard rail the usual tapered spacingblocks 8 and 9 are employed. These blocks are corrugated on theiradjoining contacting faces to prevent independent lateral movement ofsaid blocks, and the block 8 is formed with a depending lug 10 which isadapted to fit between the side flanges 3 of the main body of the yokeand to thereby prevent lateral movement of the spacing blocks.

Between the upturned end 11 of the yoke and the outer side of the guardrail I place the clamping wedges 12 and 13. The clamp 12 engages theouter surface of the guard rail and. is formed with a downwardly andoutwardly inclined outer surface 14, an outwardly extending rib 15 beingformed on the said inclined face. The movable wedge 13 is provided witha downwardly and outwardly inclined inner surface which is adapted tofit and slide on the correspondingly inclined outer surface of the wedge12, and the inner face of the wedge 13 is formed with a groove toreceive the rib on the wedge 12. The outer portion of the movable wedgeis reduced to adapt it to fit snugly within the channel formed by theside flanges 3 of the clamp yoke, whereby said clamp wedge will be heldagainst lateral movement by said flanges.

To provide means for drawing the movable clamp wedge downwardly Iprovide a U-bolt 16 which is passed upwardly through openings in the web2, as indicated clearly in Figs. 1 and 3, the arms of said U-boltpassing upwardly through apertures in the movable wedge 13. Clampingnuts 17 are screwed on the upper ends of the said arms and are adaptedto force downwardly the movable clamping wedge. The arms of the U-shapedbolt are within the side flanges 3 of the clamp yoke as indicatedclearly in Fig. 3, and are protected by said flanges.

It will, of course, be understood that the filler blocks may be of anysuitable shape and size, and that the clamping wedges may be varied asto form, and that other means than the U-shaped bolt may be employed foradjusting the movable wedge, I, therefore, wish it understood that I amnot to be limited to the precise form of the filler blocks or wedgepieces shown and described.

By forming the yoke from a standard rolled I-beam section and bending itup to proper shape, I provide a yoke having great strength, and yetwhich is light and which may be readily and cheaply manufactured. Itwill also be noted that the flanges form a channel on the upper andinner sides of the yoke which are adapted to partly receive the fillerblocks and clamping wedges so that said parts are protected by theflanges and held against lateral displacement.

In Figs. 7 and 8 is shown a yoke formed from a channel iron, the flangesbeing turned upwardly or toward the inner side of the yoke to form achannel for the reception of the spacing blocks and filler pieces andwedge blocks. In making up this form of the yoke a standard rolledchannel iron may be used cut to the proper length and then bent into thedesired form.

What I claim is:

1. A guard rail clamp comprising a yoke formed with a centrallongitudinal web, side flanges formed on the edges of said central weband serving to strengthen said web, a filler block, spacing blocks andclamping devices ada ted to fit between said flanges whereby sai flangeswill prevent the lateral displacement of said parts, and means foradjusting one of the clamping devices said means engaging the yoke.

2. A guard rail clamp comprising a yoke formed of an I-beam section bentupwardly at its ends to form the rail retaining means, filler blocks,spacing means, and a clamping means adapted to engage the rails and tofit the channel formed by the side flanges of the said I-beam sect-ionand to prevent the lateral displacement of the said clamping devices.

3. A yoke for a guard rail clamp comprising an I-beam section bentupwardly at its ends to form the rail retaining portions whereby saidyoke will be provided with a channel on its inner side.

4. A guard rail clamp comprising a yoke formed of an I-beam section bentupwardly at its ends to form the rail retaining portions, said yokehaving a channel on its inner side, a filler block adapted to fitbetween the side flanges of one upwardly bent part of the yoke and toengage the track rail, a pair of spacing blocks adapted to be arrangedbetween the guard rail and the track rail, one of said blocks beingprovided with a depending lug adapted to fit the channel in the yoke,and a pair of clamping wedges, one being adapted to engage the guardrail and the other being movable and adapted to fit between the flangesof the adjoining end of the clamp yoke, and a bolt carried by the yokeand adapted, to adjust the movable clamping wedge, the said bolt beingarranged between the side flanges of the yoke.

5. A guard rail clamp comprising a yoke, formed with a central web andside flanges, whereby said yoke will be provided with channels on theinner and outer sides of said web, a rail clamping means adapted toengage the rails, a portion of said clamping means being adapted toengage the flanges of the yoke to prevent lateral displacement of saidclamping means.

6. A guard rail clamp comprising a rolled I-beam section having its endsbent upwardly to form the rail retaining arms whereby a channel will beformed on the inner side of said yoke, and an adjustable rail clampingmeans adapted to engage the rails and to fit between the flanges of theyoke.

7. A guard rail clamp comprising a yoke I-shaped in cross sectionthroughout all points in its length, and having the main horizontal bodyportion to receive the guard rail and the track rail and two upwardlybent ends to form the rail retaining portions, and adjustable railclamping means said clamping means being adapted to fit in the channelformed by the side flanges of the yoke whereby said clamping meanscannot be shifted laterally and disengaged from the yoke.

8. A guard rail clamp comprising a yoke formed with a central web andside flangesconnected to said web, the ends of said web and the sideflanges being bent upwardlyto form rail retaining portions, the mainportion of the flanges between said bent portions forming the railsupporting means, a filler block adapted to be arranged between one endof the yoke and the track rail, said filler block being formed with aportion adapted. to fit between the flanges of the yoke, a two partspacing means adapted to be arranged between the track rail and theguard rail, one of said parts being provided with a depending lug to fitbetween the side flanges of the yoke, and a pair of clamping wedges, oneof said wedges being adapted to engage the guard rail and the otherbeing arranged to engage the adjoining end of the yoke and the otherclamping wedge, and means connected to the yoke for adjusting one of thesaid clamping wedges.

9. A guard rail clamp comprising a clamp yoke having a web whosetransverse dimension is adapted to lie parallel with the rails, sideflanges integral with said web at the edges thereof, said side flangesbeing perpendicular to the central web and to the rails, said yoke beingformed with a lower track supporting portion and two upwardly bent endportions constituting rail retaining parts, a filler block, adjustablespacing pieces, clamp wedges, one of said wedges being movable upon theother, and a U-bolt passing through the web of the yoke and the movableclamping wedge between the flanges.

10. A guard rail clamp comprising a yoke formed with a longitudinal webwhose transverse dimension, or cross section, is parallel with the railsto be retained by said yoke, side flanges formed on the edges of saidweb and integral therewith, said flanges extending in the same directionfrom the longitudinal edges of the web and being perpendicular thereto,whereby said side flanges will be perpendicular to the rails retained bythe yoke and will, therefore, strengthen 15 GEORGE L. HALL.

Witnesses:

WM. R. DAVIS, F. R. MILLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for flve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O.

